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LAHORE, March 21: A confusion spread among Joseph Colony residents after many of them discovered that the cheques that had been given to them by the Punjab government had bounced.

Complaints gradually filtered through among enraged residents during the week, who had gone to the banks to deposit the cheques only to find out that the government’s account did not have enough balance to transfer the amount.

“First I thought it was only me but then I discovered that the rest of the victims who had been given the compensation were also in the same boat,” says one Christian who is also worker in a government department.

He said that he along with some other government workers had an official bank account where their salaries were transferred. But instead of resulting in making things easier, it was found out that the cheques did not transfer.

“This is indeed a humiliating experience for a victim of tragedy not to receive the due compensation,” says another resident who had his bounced cheque returned on Thursday with the bank saying that the government’s account was empty.

Meanwhile, the Office of the Accountant General gave an official statement saying that the empty bank account was simply an internal issue and that the problem would be resolved within a few days.

The victims were enraged at the soon-to-be former government’s irresponsibility, especially since the residents had been left without nothing at all.

“Before ending their government, they could have at least made sure about this problem, rather than caring more about holding fun festivals,” said an annoyed activist.

Another Christian activist Alishba Rashid said that there was a slight confusion, as some of the people had received the cheques and had even encashed them, but the second group of people had faced this problem.

“Some of them have received the money, others have not, we are still in the process of making a list concerning this issue,” she said.